"Reef Safe" butterflies

[wkscott]

You think I'm ok with a single copperband?

If you get a small one, yes. They dont grow very quickly.

 

[Mortie31]

I think the term "reefsafe" can be very misleading, some fish will eat CUC but not corals, some LPS but not CUC or SPS, some SPS, for what it's worth I have a pearlscale and 4 spot in my sps tank both are fine...along with a coral beauty and majestic angel... I believe it comes down to what is more important to you, corals or the fish? and then you can choose to minimise your risk, if I'd got a tank full of expensive scolies and acans I wouldn't let a butterfly or angel near it, a few colonies of sticks is a completely different arguement...

 

[fabutahoun]

Once I started 1o years ago ,I got a 50 gallon tank and I thought it was big enough, quickly I have wished I have bigger tank. And now and I have a 180, also I am thinking that I need more

 

[lauderdalestunner]

My suggestion is go with a small angelfish like the flame back and a flasher wrasse or something similar.

 

[Preme]

I think the term "reefsafe" can be very misleading, some fish will eat CUC but not corals, some LPS but not CUC or SPS, some SPS, for what it's worth I have a pearlscale and 4 spot in my sps tank both are fine...along with a coral beauty and majestic angel... I believe it comes down to what is more important to you, corals or the fish? and then you can choose to minimise your risk, if I'd got a tank full of expensive scolies and acans I wouldn't let a butterfly or angel near it, a few colonies of sticks is a completely different arguement...

I have mainly SPS, a mushroom rock and zoa rock.

 

[Jason mack]

I don't have much in mine .. just upgraded too this 90g

 

[fabutahoun]

I think the term "reefsafe" can be very misleading, some fish will eat CUC but not corals, some LPS but not CUC or SPS, some SPS, for what it's worth I have a pearlscale and 4 spot in my sps tank both are fine...along with a coral beauty and majestic angel... I believe it comes down to what is more important to you, corals or the fish? and then you can choose to minimise your risk, if I'd got a tank full of expensive scolies and acans I wouldn't let a butterfly or angel near it, a few colonies of sticks is a completely different arguement...

Acans, Scolies and zoas are there favorite food, however at start my emperor eat one Acna then stopped, also you need to feed them a lot to minimize the risk , and feeding a lot means you should have good filtration system to handle all the extra waste

I never added a scolie to the tank because I am not willing to spend all this money so my fish can enjoy some candy

 

[fabutahoun]

Butterflies can eat mushrooms

 

[Preme]

Acans, Scolies and zoas are there favorite food, however at start my emperor eat one Acna then stopped, also you need to feed them a lot to minimize the risk , and feeding a lot means you should have good filtration system to handle all the extra waste

I never added a scolie to the tank because I am not willing to spend all this money so my fish can enjoy some candy

So a copperbands my best choice then???

What about raccoons? I really like the Red Sea raccoon.

 

[fabutahoun]

red sea raccoons will eat everything, not safe at all

 

[Preme]

red sea raccoons will eat everything, not safe at all

Ok I'm gonna go with the copperband then....

 

[fabutahoun]

good option and another good one is the Pyramid Butterfly
as other said above, it is true reef safe and a bit smaller than the copperband

 

[Roy 9121]

Ok I'm leaning towards
Golden Semilarvatus Butterflyfish
Copperband butterlyfish or longnose

Are these 2 good?

I don't know what your seeing, but everything I've read says butterflyfish need at least 120 gallon tanks. I think you'd be pushing it to even have one in a 60 gallon.

 

[AcanSkywalker]

Thankyou for your advice .!! I only have 2 clown fish and a spotted dragonet in upto now .. But like everyone I would like that wow factor in my tank ..(plus my girlfriend keeps on at me too buy a couple of fish instead of just corals all the time )..I've been reluctant too buy fish because I want them reef safe also .. I'm finding it difficult too decide ... more time and research I guess

Take advantage of your girlfriends wants and buy a much bigger tank.

 

[Jason mack]

Take advantage of your girlfriends wants and buy a much bigger tank.

I did already ,....just got a 90 g

 

[arkareefo]

Pakistani butterfky fishes are the worst fish i ever had..so just stay away from it..it would prefer feeding on corals than from u..

 

[fabutahoun]

I don't know what your seeing, but everything I've read says butterflyfish need at least 120 gallon tanks. I think you'd be pushing it to even have one in a 60 gallon.

I think he can get away with one of the relatively smaller size copperband or Pyramid, it will need some time to outgrow the tank. and this will be the best excuse for a tank upgrade

 

[Engloid]

A copperband butterfly is a grazing fish. It has a small mouth, eat slowly, and is not an aggressive eater around other fish at all. When you feed your other fish they go into a frenzy eating as quickly as possible. The copperband won't do that very much at all. Therefore if you only feed once or maybe twice a day, it really won't get enough to survive. It needs something to eat just about all day long comma because it is so slowly it has to spend much of the day grazing. Therefore think about what it will eat while it's grazing. It will eat copepods. The question to ask yourself is whether you have enough Rock and other things in the tank that can have enough copepod population for your butterfly to survive long-term. I think having a good sump refugium is an excellent way to help do this. It ensures that there's a safe place for punch to multiply comma and no fish can get to them to completely wipe them out. However, you have to have enough Rock and places in the tank for them to live and hide also. Unless you have a lot of rock in a 60 gallon tank, the copperband may slowly starve to death.

 

[Preme]

A copperband butterfly is a grazing fish. It has a small mouth, eat slowly, and is not an aggressive eater around other fish at all. When you feed your other fish they go into a frenzy eating as quickly as possible. The copperband won't do that very much at all. Therefore if you only feed once or maybe twice a day, it really won't get enough to survive. It needs something to eat just about all day long comma because it is so slowly it has to spend much of the day grazing. Therefore think about what it will eat while it's grazing. It will eat copepods. The question to ask yourself is whether you have enough Rock and other things in the tank that can have enough copepod population for your butterfly to survive long-term. I think having a good sump refugium is an excellent way to help do this. It ensures that there's a safe place for punch to multiply comma and no fish can get to them to completely wipe them out. However, you have to have enough Rock and places in the tank for them to live and hide also. Unless you have a lot of rock in a 60 gallon tank, the copperband may slowly starve to death.

Thanks!
I should be fine because my other fish consist of 2 clowns, a royal Gramma, and a few gobies. Which are all laid back and not aggressive eaters.

 

[Engloid]

Yes, but I hope I didn't give you the wrong impression. Its passive nature at feeding time isnt really the difficult part....The most important factor is how much other food that the fish gets between feedings. These fish really need a constant supply of natural food, in my opinion. They wont eat algaes. Another tip....ask the store to feed it some brine shrimp. If it doesn't even show interest or curiosity towards it, I wouldn't buy it. It could starve before it begins to learn to eat brine shrimp. I bought one the other day that was very interested in brine shrimp at the store. It wouldn't swim towards it, and get very close to it, acting very curious. The next day, it was eating brine shrimp. Another one at the store at the same time comma just stayed back in the corner of the tank and didn't even seem interested in the brine shrimp at all. I did not buy it, for that reason